They Came From Virginia

My ancestors on my husbands side of the family have been poking me for quite some time. Their voice is loud and clear. It's time to share their story. And so we begin.. My husband has witnessed first hand my obsession with genealogy and my excitement as I have connected with new found relatives over the years. So I guess that I shouldn't have been surprised when he asked me one day, when was I going to find someone on his side of the family? I chuckled as I realized that he was interested in his ancestors after all..I took that as my cue to start digging into his past. His request was to find out something about his paternal grandfather who he knew absolutely nothing about. I'll begin with my husband's father, Charles Emmit McKinney. He was an interesting individual, to say the least. Although I had known my father-in-law for years. I never asked him about his family. All I knew is that he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Edith Elizabeth FLEMING-PRATER, whom h...

                                                                                                                                                                     This morning my ...

My father,with my sister and brother-about 1968 After my recent post, I spoke with my sister over the phone. We talked about many things, mainly about our parents, our history and the mystery of  Grandpa Ollie's name, TAYLOR. Which isn't really his name. My sisters are amazing, the encouragement that I get from them to continue blogging and search for our family's past is awesome! They are all my team. Our conversation made me realize something that I never thought of before. That tracing our Genealogy brings pain. I didn't realize that as much as we want to know about our father's past, that it would hurt so many to dig into it?. Pain is definitely the gift that no one wants.  I think that sometimes the pain of remembering the past is just to difficult for some, especially the elders. They just don't want to talk. They will tell you in a heartbeat that they don't know anything. Short and to the point! like, don't ask me, I don't really want to talk ...

I am a member of the new Facebook Group: African American Genealogy & Slave Ancestry Research. A wonderful community of researchers that are inspiring and encouraging one another, working together to crash down brick walls and find ancestors. Since this group started..just weeks ago, There has been a surge of new African American Blogs.  I would like to introduce these new bloggers, and a few old. Please take a look, leave a word or two..You may even find that you have an ancestor in common. They Came From Virginia Echoes of My Nola Past NoTe's To MySelf... Claiming Kin Our Georgia Roots Our Alabama Roots Conversations With My Ancestors Georgia Black Crackers In Honor Of My Ancestors   My Elusive Kin Low Country Africana Spence-Lowry Family Taneya's Genealogy Blog The Family Griot Tracing Their Footsteps All Roads Lead To California Ike Ivery Family Terrence Garnett's Family Research Finding Eliza Connected By Blood Caddo...

My father, Jesse Carl Taylor w/ my sister Lisa and brother Tony. 1965 Today, while searching for my ancestors...much to my surprise, it was my father who kept nudging me. As I ignored him, wanting to stay focused on a certain ancestor. It became clear to me that it was time to blog about him and share his story. As I've said before, the search for my father has been a life long journey. I've always wondered what happened to him. Where he was, what was his heritage, and how do I find him?  no one seemed to have the answers.... Growing up my mother taught us to be proud of who we are, which included being proud of our name. We were the PRYOR'S. Growing up in a small community, I had eyes all around me. EVERYONE knew my mother. Those were the days when you got checked by the other mothers in the neighborhood if you were caught doing wrong..and they had no problem at all letting your mother know! I remember my father, playing with us as children. He always wore a crisp white ...

Last night I spent the evening..more like half the night, searching for Sarah. I woke up in the middle of the night, and this morning with Sarah on my mind. I see her, standing there among the trees. As I searched endless records, getting a bit frustrated, She kept whispering to me, saying "Here I am Denise, I'm right here in front of you, you're just not seeing me". In case your wondering..No, I'm not crazy!  when you start the hunt for your ancestors, believe me, they talk to you. If your a Genealogist then you understand. Thanks to Miss Luckie Daniels, and her push in the right direction. I am learning this more and more. And hearing Sarah's whispers. As I looked though online resources. I came across a death record listing for a SARAH LEE. Now,. one may think that this must be her. After all, her owners surname was LEE, and we know that some of her siblings changed their name to LEE after slavery ended. The locations matched, my Sarah was from Pittsylvan...

My Grandmother, Margaret w/ her husband Don James and mother Mary B.Doyle (Carr) In a recent conversation with my my mother, as we sat looking over tons of pictures and talking about family. I was reminded of just how secretive we can be when it comes to our ancestors. Maybe a better word would be "Hoarder". Holding on to information and pictures like our ancestors only belong to us.  Maybe we feel that not sharing is like holding on to a little piece of those who have passed on. I think it's pretty amazing that from two individuals come a whole nation! If my ancestors as a couple have 10, 15 or 25 children. WE, the descendants of them are ALL forever interlocked by blood. We are family. I shared with my mother my thoughts on our emotional need, the feeling of not wanting to share. We can't take any of  it with us. What happens to our family tree and our pictures when were gone? doesn't someone have to carry on and continue to tell the story of our anc...